Cunning of a Fox, Slyness of a Snake
by Maltrazz
Summary: At the age of 6, Naruto finds Orochimaru's hidden study. Taking his new 'sensei's' lesson on deception to heart, he hides his skills while growing strong. His new dream? To surpass his sensei in power. Cold, Gray, Powerhungry Naruto. NO pairing for Naruto


**Cunning of a Fox, Slyness of a Snake**

**AN:** Yes, another 'Naruto finds Orochimaru's abandoned lair' story. However, I hope that the original elements help make up for recycling that plot point. Also, I do not believe that it is ever made absolutely clear as to whether Orochimaru was exiled during Sarutobi's original reign as Hokage, during Minato's reign, or after Sarutobi came back from retirement. For the purposes of this story, He was exiled after Sarutobi returned to the position of Hokage. In otherwords, after the Kyuubi attack and Minato's death.

This story is rated M for language, violence, gore, torture, and human expiramentation. Some of that will not appear until later chapters, though.

Also, in this story, Naruto is very intelligent, and his regeneration from the Kyuubi is slightly faster than canon. He has NO Kekkei Genkai, though.

And without further ado, let the story begin!

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><p><span>Chapter 1: The Snake's Lair<span>

A mob chased a six year old boy through the streets of Konoha. Sadly this was not a new occurance for the boy. Naruto Uzumaki had been hated by the villagers, and chased by mobs, for as long as he could remember. The worst part is that he did not even know why they hated him. He had heard them cursing at him, of course. They called him things like "Demon", "Monster", "Abomination", "Murderer". Some had even called him "Kyuubi", but that made even less sense, since the Kyuubi was dead, wasn't it?

He did not know why people hated him, they had for as long as he could remember. Even before he had been kicked out of the orphanage two years earlier, he had been treated differently - treated _worse_ - than the other children. The Old Man had given him an apartment less than a week later, but it did not stop people from attacking him. He did not know why, however he could remember almost everything that he had seen or experianced since he was about two. That included every attack, every beating, every attempted murder on his person.

The day he had turned five, he had recieved a particularly nasty beating. Both of his eyes had been gouged out, and he was pretty certain he had been disemboweled. Yet, somehow, he had woken up in the hospital a couple of days later. Perfectly fine. He did not know how he was healed. Even at five, he knew that the medic nins were not that good.

On that day, he also made a vow: to find out what he had done to make them hate him, and to do his very best to make it up to them. He would become Hokage, and make life better for everyone.

As he ran from the mob, he twisted and turned, from one side street or alley to another. They had been throwing rocks at him - and even couple of shuriken and kunai - so he was a little bloodied already, though the wounds had healed. As he ran, he saw an open trash can and decided to take a chance. He dove into it and pulled trash over himself before his pursuers could turn the corner.

Unfortunately for him, one of them saw the trash moving. They tipped over the trash can, and he spilled out onto the ground. The mob quickly surrounded him, and started the beating.

Despite the pain, Naruto did not close his eyes. He never closed his eyes. He looked each of his attackers in the face, seeing their fury, and burning each face into his memory with just a glance. He remembered the face of every person that had attacked him in the last four years.

Mostly, it was just civilians, but many of the older genin had attacked him, as well. A couple of chunin had even helped the mobs, on occasion. In fact, the man that had blinded and disemboweled him, had been a chunnin with white hair. Luckily, no Jounin had ever joined the mobs. Naruto was fairly certain that, if one had, he would not still be alive.

As the beating came to an end, Naruto knew he had gotten off easy. The fingers on his left hand, and three or four ribs, were the only bones that were broken this time.

He saw the man that seemed to be the leader lifting the grate off of a sewer drain, and immediately knew what they had in mind. As they dragged him over, he wondered, 'I have used the sewer system to escape from mobs before, but the entrances were always on the main streets. So why is there one in an alley?'

As he was dumped into the hole, he waited to hit the water.

The young Jinchurikki blacked out, however, when he hit a solid stone floor instead.

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><p>As he came to, Naruto found himself in a dimly lit room that he had never seen before. It was about four feet wide and six feet long, with a drain in the middle of the floor and a door on one wall. He saw that there used to be a ladder, but the top half had rusted and fallen down. Seeing no other choice, Naruto decided to try the door. Finding it unlocked, he let out a sigh of relief. He smiled as he opened it and went through, as he could already feel his fingers healing.<p>

His smile turned into a shocked gape when he saw the next room. It looked like some kind of lavishly furnished study, the like of which you might find in some mansion. However, It looked like it had been abondoned for years.

There were three doors and a fireplace, each in the center of their respective wall. The mantel of the ornate fireplace was covered in dust, and the last rotten remnants of the logs had some type of fungus growing over them. The luxurious armchair, that was facing the fire, had a thick layer of dust on its red velvet cloth. The intricately carved desk in front of the chair, made of some exotic wood that he had never seen before, was covered with dust, as well. In fact, the only things not covered in said dust, were the books.

There were shelves full of books lining the walls. All of the books seemed to be untouched by the passage of time. However, one book in particular caught his attention. He notice it, because it seemed out of place. What made it seem out of place, was that it was laying on the middle of the desk.

Naruto walked over to get a closer look at it. It was a small book, and just over and inch thick. Its only distinguishing feature was that it appeared to be bound in some kind of reptile carefully opened it, and found a note tucked into the inside cover.

It read thus:

_My name is Orochimaru. My research has brought me close to gaining immortality. Unfortunately, this has caused some of the more close-minded individuals in this village to become my enemies. I will have to leave soon, though whether it be of my own volition or not, has yet to be seen. While I am close to becoming immortal, I hold no illusions about my current state of mortality. Though they are few, there are still those that can defeat me. Should the worst occur, and I perish, I refuse to let the knowledge I worked so hard to gain die with me. Therefore, I gift this compound, and all within it, to whomever should find it. Use it well, and remember what many have forgotten: A shinobi's greatest tool is deception. When applied properly, this tool could let an academy student slay a Kage. Good luck, and grow strong._

_-Orochimaru of the Sannin_

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> And there you go! The Naruto of this story will grow up emulating Orochimaru. He will not be 'Dark', per se, but he will be Gray, Cold, and Powerhungry. Any ideas or suggestion are welcome.

However, I will tell you this now: there will be NO pairing for Naruto in this story. There may seem like there is one, for a short while, but it will only be Naruto using the other person. I may or may not decide to put in a lemon later in the story, but even if I did there will be no romance involved. All in all, this is going to be a very dark story, even if Naruto is not particularly 'Dark'. And I am still not sure about that.

Also, for those of you familiar with the alignments of D&D type games, you can think of it this way. Whereas most (but not all) 'Dark' Narutos are more Chaotic Evil, this one is definitely going to be Lawful Evil.

Last, please check out the story ideas that I have posted on my profile. Even if you have in the past, I do post more from time to time. I would especially like to see someone pick up "My Mother is a Kunoichi?" (Naruto/Ranma 1/2), "Past Lives Revived" (Naruto/Ranma 1/2), "Phantom Thief Ranko" (Detective Conan/Ranma 1/2), "Tyrant of Peace" (Naruto), and/or "Warlock Fox" (Naruto/Looking For Group).

All flames will be used to light Asuma's cigarettes. And why not? He could wrap those things in bacon, for all the difference it would make.


End file.
